Chapter 293: Xuan Che's Master's Senior Brother is Quite a Character

"Like it's stuck between two worlds?"

Hearing Xuan Che's words, Yu Sheng's heart stirred. "Yes, that's the feeling!"

Then he immediately realized something. "Wait, you know what's going on?!"

"I've never seen it before," Xuan Che shook his head, but then changed his tone. "However, I once heard my master's senior brother mention some bizarre and strange things he encountered during his early travels. One of them reminded me of the situation in this room."

Yu Sheng immediately became interested. "Tell me about it?"

Xuan Che recalled for a moment and slowly began. "My master's senior brother said that when he was early in his pursuit of the Dao, he once sought the starry river. Due to a malfunction in his immortal boat, he ended up at an unnamed 'wasteland star.' That planet wasn't on any navigation charts, and there were no signs, stations, or anything established by civilization in the surrounding space. However, the space around the planet echoed with strange howls—what outsiders call 'electromagnetic screaming.' To repair the immortal boat, he was forced to crash-land on that wasteland star, and there he encountered many truly eerie phenomena.

"He said the planet's surface was lifeless, but countless black megaliths stood there. Each megalith was thousands of zhang high, and hundreds of zhang wide, like countless mountain-sized stone tablets arranged neatly on the ground. Between the megaliths, there were dried-up river valleys and cliffs, with large and small stone pillars lying toppled. Whether it was the mountain-high tablets or the fallen pillars, they were clearly man-made…

"He crash-landed on top of one of those megaliths. The landing point was on the planet's dark side. On the second day, he saw a sun rise from the port side of the immortal boat. That sun was the color of red gold and as large as a cartwheel. But on the third day, he saw… another sun."

"What? Another sun?" Yu Sheng had been listening intently, but now he was stunned. "Clarify—did an extra sun appear in the sky, or… did it switch?"

"It switched," Xuan Che said slowly. "Its color was orange-red, the size of a fist, rising from the port side of the immortal boat. For the rest of that day, it hung high in the sky. Because it wasn't as bright as the previous day's sun, the entire sky seemed especially gloomy and dark.

"Then on the fourth day, the sun the color of red gold and as large as a cartwheel rose again… And so it cycled back and forth."

Yu Sheng listened, stunned. Although the story coming out of this 'cultivator's' mouth was a bit off in terms of style, at this point he couldn't care less about that. All his attention was focused on those two obviously different suns.

"Let me confirm this first—how many suns are there around that planet?" he couldn't help asking.

"Just one," Xuan Che answered quickly, clearly expecting the question. "According to my master's senior brother's observations before the forced landing, the red-gold sun should be the one visible on the surface under 'normal' circumstances."

"Then the other small orange-red sun is…"

"Also real, but it exists in the world on the 'other side,'" Xuan Che said slowly. "My master's senior brother stayed there for a long time afterward, trying to decipher the eerie phenomenon. His final speculation was that the planet beneath his feet was actually in two worlds at once, orbiting two suns simultaneously—and those two suns overlapped at the same coordinates in the two worlds. When observed from outside the planet's orbit, you could only see the sun on 'our side,' but on the surface of the wasteland star, you would see the skies of both worlds alternating on a daily cycle…"

Yu Sheng listened dumbly. After a long silence, he nodded to Xuan Che with a somewhat peculiar expression. "…Your master's senior brother is quite a character."

"I have great admiration for my master's senior brother," Xuan Che said with a smile, but then looked a bit embarrassed. "However, my master does have some complaints about him always traveling around and not handling sect affairs… Please don't tell my master I said that."

Yu Sheng's mouth twitched. While trying to adapt to the style of Qianfeng Ling Mountain, he focused on the important matter. "That 'wasteland star' you mentioned—where exactly is it? Did your master's senior brother explore it again after he returned?"

"Ah, unfortunately, no. After my master's senior brother left that place, the planet and the sun it orbited seemed to vanish, never to be found again," Xuan Che sighed. "He later used the old coordinates recorded by the immortal boat and returned to search several times, but only found a few clusters of cold dust clouds at the spot. He suspected that the planet might have completely 'fallen' to the other side, along with that sun, sinking into another world. Of course, it's also possible that the coordinates recorded by the immortal boat were wrong, since it was malfunctioning at the time. If it's the second case, there might still be a chance to find the planet, though the hope is slim."

Yu Sheng didn't say anything for a while. He silently walked to the end of the room, raised his hand, and brushed the cold surface of the mirror.

Xuan Che had told such a bizarre story—a planet operating in two worlds simultaneously, with a sun that switched every day. On the surface, it seemed completely out of place with this small room, but in the details, they shared a 'commonality' that couldn't be ignored.

Existing in two worlds at once.

…Were there only 'two' worlds?

Yu Sheng suddenly frowned.

He recalled that this mirror had not only shown the snowy cave but also a ruin shrouded in black mist, and a dead golden-haired doll, shattered among the broken walls.

What if each 'scene' reflected in the mirror represented a 'location' that overlapped with this room?

Then… this room might be even more absurd than that 'wasteland star' seen by Xuan Che's master's senior brother!

Yu Sheng's imagination began to run wild. It took him a while to slowly rein in the flood of thoughts.

He looked up and saw Xuan Che still studying intently in front of the wall around the mirror, poking and prodding here and there, occasionally pulling a talisman from his casual clothes pocket. He muttered a few words, and the talisman ignited and dissipated in his hand, rippling briefly, as if testing something.

Aileen and Hu Li were standing nearby, the two of them whose combined education didn't even add up to a primary school diploma, chattering away and analyzing what Xuan Che was doing.

The little doll poked the fox's tail. "Hey, look, look—this is what real cultivation looks like. See the style? Even if it's a bit off, it's still way more normal than you."

"I, I know about this stuff too!" Hu Li was also interested in the things Xuan Che was fiddling with, but after hearing Aileen's words, she stubbornly insisted. "But we didn't use traditional talismans like that back then. We directly cast without symbols…"

"That sounds soulless."

Hu Li could never win against Aileen in an argument, so she started smacking Aileen's head with her tail again, making a crackling sound.

Xuan Che couldn't help but look back at the doll and the nine-tailed fox as they bickered and fought. Then he turned and came to Yu Sheng.

"I just carefully examined every part of this room and did find many things that defy common sense, but as you said, they're all 'closed'… Can the 'rift' here be opened actively?"

"No," Yu Sheng shook his head. "At least I haven't found a way to control it yet."

"Then we'll have to rely on fate," Xuan Che sighed. "We'll have to wait until it 'opens' again. In its current state, I can't see much more."

"No problem. The story you just told me already gave me a lot of inspiration," Yu Sheng smiled, taking the matter in stride. "Let's head back to the living room. I'd like to hear more about Qianfeng Ling Mountain."

"Of course."

The group left the eerie room at the end of the second-floor corridor. Yu Sheng was the last to leave, and before departing, he carefully double-checked that the door was securely closed, then left with peace of mind.

But just a few steps later, his gaze fell on Aileen, who was scurrying along with her short legs at his feet.

"Ah, wait—I suddenly remembered something!"

Several pairs of eyes immediately focused on him.

Yu Sheng looked at Aileen, who had raised her head, then at Xuan Che walking beside him.

Aileen Pro Max lacked a way to replenish energy. Hu Li, as a primary school student who grew up in a cyberpunk cultivation society, didn't understand traditional cultivation methods. But now, right in front of him, there was a standard traditional cultivator!

Although it seemed that Qianfeng Ling Mountain had also moved away from purely 'traditional' methods, they still had a complete knowledge system as a faction. Maybe they could solve Aileen's energy problem?

With that thought, he quickly organized his ideas and looked at Xuan Che seriously. "Let me ask about something first—you cultivators have the concept of absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, right?"

"Of course," Xuan Che immediately nodded. "That's the foundation of cultivation."

"…Can it be taught to outsiders?" Yu Sheng asked. Then, feeling that asking so directly might be inappropriate—since cultivation techniques were always considered secrets, and many novels, movies, and games depicted bloody conflicts over them—he quickly added, "I mean the most basic kind…"

"Even the non-basic stuff can be taught. You just need to pass the corresponding license," Xuan Che said matter-of-factly. "The basics are even simpler. Over at our place, all the major sects recruit students every year. Anyone who reaches the enrollment age has to register. Not registering is illegal."

"Uh… So outsiders can learn too?!"

"Yes! Just sign up and pay tuition. But how well you learn depends on your talent—from what I remember, the Jipuluo international students had the highest talent."

Yu Sheng: "…"

A moment later, he slapped his forehead.

So it seemed that while Qianfeng Ling Mountain hadn't reached the absurd cyberpunk cultivation level of Hu Li's hometown, it was already walking a similar path.

With that thought, he cleared his throat twice and pointed at Aileen.

"Here's the thing—she might need that 'absorbing spiritual energy' technique of yours…"